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Friday, September 26, 2008
Schneider comes with no down side
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m re-topping what I wrote earlier to put the focus squarely on the big story. The acquisition of Mathieu Schneider comes with basically no down side (of course, I’m not the guy writing the paychecks).
The trade looks like a three-for-one in name only. Really, the key part was Schneider’s one year at $5.6 million for Ken Klee’s one year at $1.25 million. The Thrashers actually have more flexibility after the deal than they did before it; they don’t have to worry about the $40.7 million payroll floor, and they still are well under the cap of $56.7 million.
In the best case, Schneider plays like he did two and three years ago (50-point seasons). In the worst case, he figures to be substantially more productive than Klee, who is only two years younger.
The Thrashers have plenty of players who can fill Brad Larsen’s role, which very well might have been in Chicago, and that means more ice time for someone younger who could help them down the road. Chad Painchaud did well in prospect games this fall but still isn’t likely to have the kind of up side that could make the Thrashers regret this deal.
OK, what follows is what I wrote earlier …
Boris Valabik told me today he doesn’t know why he drew the 10-minute misconduct penalty last night in Nashville. Maybe he’ll get an explanation tonight, when the same group of refs works the game in St. Louis.
“I was surprised, but I can’t do anything about it,” Valabik said. “I just got punched, and there was a scrum right after that, and I was the only guy who wound up with 10 minutes. That’s alright. It’s part of the game.
“I have no idea what the call was. I can’t do anything about it.”
Tonight’s lines:
Stuart-White-Thorburn
Sterling-Esposito-Armstrong
Boulton-Holzapfel-Machacek
LaVallee-Little-Hoffman
Stevenson might play in place of one of those guys; there’s some kind of potential issue with an injury.
On defense:
Hainsey-Lewis
Oystrick-Rivers
Valabik-Exelby
Hedberg to start in net, with Pavelec backing him up.
I was asked on the previous post my impressions of some of the players from last night. I had positive impressions of Grant Lewis, who struck me as willing and able to play the body aggressively but also showed some finesse. I thought the cross-check by Valabik that drew a penalty was gratuitous, but I spoke with John Anderson about it today and he sounded as if he saw it somewhat differently. Hainsey struck me as one of those guys who knows where to be and what to do and makes it look as if this game isn’t all that difficult.
I don’t have a whole lot of impressions beyond that, for a couple of reasons: It has been a long time since I have covered hockey, so I’m slower to trust my eyes and gut than I will be a month from now; and I was so busy trying to make sure I didn’t flop on my first game story that I probably wasn’t thinking all that straight.
About Matthieu Schneider: I was going to ask Don Waddell about that today at the skate, but he’s not here. He was in Nashville last night, and I’m told he’s in some other city scouting tonight. (The Ducks are playing in San Jose, and though Schneider has not been on the ice lately if there’s a multi-player deal in the works that’s one place Waddell could be, to look at other potential parts of a trade.)
I did ask Waddell about Schneider only a week ago, and he gave a two-part answer as to why the Thrashers didn’t claim Schneider off waivers: Too big a salary, and not a good fit. Of course, Waddell also told me about Alexei Zhitnik’s key role in the Thrashers’ future, then bought out Zhitnik’s contract.
That’s all until tonight.
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